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Banzai/Main article
Banzai is one of Scar's henchmen in The Lion King. Appearance Banzai is a smoky-gray hyena with a pale underbelly and yellow eyes. His ears, eyebrows, and paws are black and his back is spotted with dark gray spots. Personality Like most hyenas in The Lion King, Banzai has somewhat of a crazy and hot-headed personality. Realistic to his species, he laughs and jokes around a lot, making it hard for him to focus and/or be serious. He gets hungry very easily, an example being when he wants to hunt wildebeest rather than carry out Scar's plan to kill Mufasa. He is also the most unfortunate of the hyenas, as he is the most prone to getting hurt. His role in the trio seems to be that of the group's "muscle," partly due to his physical durability concerning the aforementioned injuries. He tends to get along well with Shenzi, but fights a lot with Ed, mostly since the hyena is constantly teasing him about his injuries. Information Banzai is a hyena who eventually becomes a primary henchmen of Scar's. He belongs to a trio made up of himself, Ed, and Shenzi. The Lion King Banzai is first seen in The Lion King when Simba and Nala are exploring the Elephant Graveyard. Simba walks up to an elephant skull and laughs dramatically in front of it. Banzai, who's hiding inside the skull with Ed and Shenzi, echoes his laughter and climbs out of the skull with his fellow hyenas. The trio accuses Nala, Simba, and Zazu of trespassing onto their territory amidst Zazu's assurances that they had just wandered in by accident. But Shenzi soon figures out that Zazu is Mufasa's majordomo and Banzai finds out from Simba that he's the future king. Fixed on eating them, the hyenas begin to make jokes about food. But as they're distracted, the cubs and Zazu have time to run away. Too late, Ed warns Banzai and Shenzi that the cubs have gotten away and the hyenas give chase. They manage to catch Zazu and stick him into the birdie boiler. Meanwhile, Nala and Simba come back to rescue him, but end up being chased themselves. The cubs are soon cornered and the hyenas slowly close in on them. Simba bravely tries to protect Nala by standing in front of her and roaring at the hyenas, but his efforts are futile, as the hyenas are more amused than scared. But at that moment, there's a magnificent roar and Mufasa leaps down the rocks at the hyenas. After a brief struggle, he pins them to the ground and warns them to never come near his son again. After another deafening roar, he sends the hyenas scurrying away. Later, Banzai and his friends appear back at the graveyard. Banzai is seen grumpily complaining about the claw scratches on his rear, inflicted by Mufasa. Ed continuously laughs at this and the two soon get into a brawl. Shenzi is disgusted and the fight breaks up. Banzai instead begins to slam lions. He and Shenzi call them rude names, such as "pushy," "hairy," "stinky," and "ugly." But as they finish talking, Scar speaks from a nearby ledge, contradicting their insulting description of lions. Banzai sighs in relief and says that he was glad Scar hadn't been someone important, like Mufasa. The hyenas then start to talk about how powerful Mufasa is, and Scar is disgusted. Banzai tries to lighten the mood by telling Scar that he was part of their group, but Scar isn't impressed. Banzai then asks him if he had brought them anything to eat. The lion tells them that they should have eaten Nala and Simba when they had the chance, but still throws them a zebra haunch, which the hyenas eagerly begin to devour. Banzai tells Scar that they couldn't have killed the cubs anyway, because they would have had to kill Mufasa. Scar smiles sinisterly at this and launches into "Be Prepared." The next day, Banzai and his friends help Scar in his plan to assassinate Mufasa. Banzai is tempted to eat a wildebeest while waiting for Scar's signal, but Shenzi doesn't allow it. After Scar gives the signal, the three hyenas chase the herd of wildebeest down into the gorge where Simba is waiting, then wait at the top of the rise for Scar. After joining up with Scar again, the hyenas are sent after Simba, who has run away from the gorge after encountering his father's dead body. The three chase him until he catapults himself into a dense thorn thicket. Banzai tries to stop himself from being hurled in too, but gets pushed in by Ed and Shenzi, who run into him after sliding down the side of a steep slope. Banzai climbs back out of the thicket, covered in thorns, and tries to get Ed and Shenzi to keep chasing after Simba. But Shenzi refuses and tells him that she didn't want to come out looking like him. Banzai gingerly removes some of the thorns from his pelt and pointedly spits some at Ed, who yelps and covers his face. The hyenas then decide to leave Simba for dead and tell Scar that they had finished the job. Years later, after Scar has taken over the Pride Lands and let the hyenas join the pride, Banzai comes before Scar to complain about the lack of food and water. All the hyenas are starving and the trio tells Scar that the lionesses weren't hunting for them. Scar tells Banzai to eat Zazu, who is trapped in a bone cage, but Banzai angrily mutters to Shenzi that he had thought things were bad under Mufasa. Scar orders Banzai to repeat what he's said and Banzai quickly corrects himself by claiming to have said, "Qué pasa?" Still touchy about Banzai's comment, Scar grouchily orders the hyenas to leave. The three start to depart, but Banzai pauses and tells Scar that they were still hungry. Scar then yells at them to get out and the hyenas race away. Not long after this, Simba returns to the Pride Lands, now fully grown. Scar, who's surprised to see Simba, plainly makes his point that the hyenas hadn't done their job, by saying, "I'm a little surprised to see you....alive." He then glares up at the three hyenas, who gulp and back away into the shadows. Later, during the battle between the hyenas and the lionesses, the hyenas chase Timon into Scar's cave and trap him in the bone cage with Zazu. But Timon and Zazu are soon freed by Pumbaa, who rushes into the cave and chases the hyenas away. Later, Simba gets into an epic battle with Scar and corners him at the top of Pride Rock. Scar, who's desperate to stay alive, blames the hyenas for all the trouble; the plot to kill Mufasa and the whole reason Simba's land was in turmoil. Unbeknown to him, all three hyenas are listening in the shadows. After hearing what Scar has said, the three back away, growling. Scar and Simba get into another fight and Simba throws Scar off the side of the ledge. At the same moment, the hyenas appear before Scar, including Banzai, Ed, and Shenzi. At first, Scar is relieved to see his friends, but the hyenas laugh at him and remind him that he had said they were the enemy. As Scar realizes that he has been betrayed, he starts to beg for his life. But the hyenas ignore his pleas and give in to their hunger. They are then engulfed in fire and the feud between the hyenas and the Pridelanders come to an end. The Lion King II: Simba's Pride The hyenas don't appear in the film, but Nuka mentions them while gathering fire at the Elephant Graveyard with Vitani. This implies that some, if not all, hyenas survived the attack on Pride Rock. The Lion King 1½ Banzai has a less prominent role in the third film, as does Ed and Shenzi. Towards the beginning of the film, when Timon is singing "That's All I Need," Banzai appears alongside Ed and Shenzi. The hyenas surround Timon as he sings and after he finishes, the hyenas laugh at him and push him aside. The trio then starts to infiltrate his meerkat colony. Though they fail to devour any meerkats, Banzai nearly catches Uncle Max, who barely escapes in time. After the meerkats are safely in their holes, the hyenas walk away, laughing. Banzai is later seen at the top of Pride Rock, preparing to attack Simba. But he is insulted by a joke made by Timon and Pumbaa about the hyenas. Ed stupidly laughs at it and Banzai slaps him. He and the other hyenas go after Timon and Pumbaa and corner them at the edge of Pride Rock. Timon and Pumbaa try several tactics to stall them while Uncle Max and Ma dig a tunnel underneath the hyenas to make them fall off of Pride Rock. But when the trap tunnel initially fails, Banzai and the other hyenas move in to kill Ma, Pumbaa, and Uncle Max. But Timon jumps down between Shenzi's legs and bravely completes the tunnel. The hyenas fall through the ground and plummet to the bottom of Pride Rock, where they meet Scar after he is thrown off a cliff by Simba. This scene is somewhat of a mistake, as Banzai and his friends would not have been in the right place or time to have heard Scar betray them. The Lion King: Six New Adventures A Tale of Two Brothers In A Tale of Two Brothers, Banzai corners Rafiki at Five Stones with the help of his two companions, Ed and Shenzi. But before the hyena trio can harm Rafiki, the Lion King, Ahadi, stops them and reminds them that it was against the regulations of the Pride Lands to hunt for sport. He then orders Banzai and his friends away. Later, Taka meets up with the hyenas to warn them that Ahadi was looking for them. Banzai suggests moving to the snowy mountains, but his idea is dismissed. The hyenas then turn the discussion to Ahadi and Mufasa. When Taka tells them that Ahadi has broken his promise to take him hunting, the hyenas suggest he make Mufasa look bad to make Ahadi have more respect for him and maybe even think about making him king instead of Mufasa. Taka tries the idea, but his plot is uncovered by Rafiki, who was watching the secret meeting from a nearby tree. Other Roles ''The Musical Banzai's role suffers some minor changes in the musical. He is given an additional song, "Chow Down," to sing when Simba and Nala enter the Elephant Graveyard. He also sings "The Madness of King Scar," in which he and Shenzi give their complaints to Scar over a shortage of food and water and tell Scar that he is adored. Kingdom Hearts II '']] First Visit The hyena trio can be seen at Pride Rock. As they're about to attack Sora, Donald, and Goofy, Scar roars and the hyena trio sees him standing next to Pete. When Nala knocks down Scar, she tells Sora, Donald, and Goofy to run. The three heroes run away with Banzai, Ed, Shenzi, and the other hyenas in pursuit. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Nala manage to get away from the hyenas. The hyena trio is later seen again at Pride Rock, preventing Simba from getting to Scar. Sora tells Simba to go after Scar while his friends handle the hyenas. Timon and Pumbaa knock the hyenas into the air, but are chased into Pride Rock. Sora, Donald, and Goofy battle the hyena trio inside Pride Rock. The trio is easily defeated and run away from the Pride Lands. Second Visit Later on in the game, the trio of hyenas are fought again for information on the source of Scar's ghost. They know nothing of the ghost and taunt Simba about it. They also seem to have somewhat of a grudge against Sora, Donald, and Goofy, as it was thanks to their part in overthrowing Scar that they were sent back to the Elephant Graveyard to eat scraps. Trivia * In "Chow Down," it is revealed by Shenzi that Sarafina ate Banzai's father. * In ''The Lion King 1½, Banzai and the other hyenas are distracted by Timon and Pumbaa during the attack on Pride Rock. This seems to be a mistake, as Banzai and his companions would not have been in the right place at the right time to have heard Scar betray them. Voice Actors *''The Lion King'' - (1994) - (film) - Cheech Marin (speaking and singing) *''The Lion King's Timon & Pumbaa'' - (1995-1998) - (TV series) - Rob Paulsen *''The Lion King (musical)'' - (1997) - (musical) - Stanley Wayne Mathis (original actor) *''The Lion King 1½'' - (2004) - (film) - Cheech Marin *''Kingdom Hearts II'' - (2005) - (video game) - Cheech Marin Songs *Be Prepared *Chow Down *The Madness of King Scar Quotes Gallery Concept_hyena020.jpg|Concept artwork of Banzai Concept_hyena025.jpg|Banzai's mold 322699 1257354675837 full-1-.jpg|"Who you calling oopid-stay?" Hyenas.jpg|Banzai, Ed, and Shenzi cornering Simba and Nala Banzai And Ed.jpg|Ed and Banzai arguing Dangling.jpg|Banzai complaining about lions Hyenas2.png|Banzai, Ed, and Shenzi preparing to carry out Scar's plan Cactusbutt.jpg|Banzai after falling into a thorn hedge Hyenasandtimon.png|The hyenas infiltrate Timon's meerkat colony Hyenasandunclemax.png|Banzai prepares to eat Uncle Max Hyenasinthirdmovie.png|The hyenas are distracted by Timon and Pumbaa Hyenasprepare.png|Banzai and his companions prepare to eat Ma, Pumbaa, and Uncle Max References Category:Animals Category:Antagonists Category:Characters Category:Hyenas Category:Male Characters